Looking at purchasing a blue ray player....which one do you guys like with the 990? I am feeding a Pioneer Kuro 5080 (768P) plasma

Thanks

Sony BDP-S550 seems to be getting good feedback from owners so far and with it's 7.1 analog output it is a perfect match for those of us with 990's.
If you are patient the new Oppo BDP-83 will probably be one of the best BD players on the market when it finally is released.

What makes the Oppo special? Also, who is Oppo? I never heard of them before.

OPPO is a small Internet-direct disc player manufacturer similar to Outlaw. They have built a strong reputation for performance, value, and customer support.

WildWolf:

I also have a 990 and the Pioneer 5080 and I'm really interested in the OPPO BDP-83. I currently have an OPPO 980H and it is terrific. The BDP-83 will incorporate a good portion of the top notch video processing of DVDO/Anchor Bay's line of separate video processors (also in the OPPO 983H) along with BD playback. It is expected to be a benchmark player. For me I want to test the effectiveness of the video processor outputing a 720P signal and feeding my 768P Pioneer plus the BDP-83's decoding of the new audio formats fed to the 990 via 7.1 analog inputs.

For more info on OPPO Gonk has reviewed three OPPO players and though he can't/won't say, I bet he is in line to put the BDP-83 through its paces before it is released later this year or early next.

Right now I have the 990/7700 combo and have a interest in purchasing a Blu-Ray player. I am considering Sony. I am not sure which model. I intend to hold off until Oppo reviews hit the forum and I return home from the CES show in January.
I also am waiting patiently for the 997 and it's reviews. Although Outlaw intends to release the 997 in January I hope the reviews are favorable since the reviews are what I shall base my purchasing power with.
Besides Oppo being a perfect macth for the 990, what about a perfect match for the 997?

For pairing Blu-ray with the 990, the three most talked-about candidates are the Sony S550, the Panasonic BD55, and the OPPO BDP-83 (which is the only one of the three that isn't shipping yet), but there's also a Pioneer or two that could fit the bill.

As for the 997, the equation changes a bit and players like the S350 and BD35 can enter the equation (dropping the multichannel analog output).

I have the Panasonic BD-55. It's hooked up to the 990 using the 770 for an amp. I have it outputing to a Samsung 67' LED DLP. The Panasonic performs very well in both video and audio. The Panasonic upconverts DVD and does a very good job.The audio from the Panny is very good through the 7.1 analog outputs. I definitely recommend the Panasonic BD-55.

Does the Sony 500 also upconvert standard dvd's?

It does, although I don't know how well...

When do u guys think the prices of these players will start dropping? I am specifically talking about the Sony s550 and Panasonic BD-55

Thanks for all the replies so far

The players that are really coming down in price are the more basic models (missing 7.1 analog out, Profile 2.0, or both). I don't know how much drop we'll see on players like the S550 and BD55 in the near future.

In my opinion, if you have the money to spare, go and buy the one you like. Price is dropping week after week for sure, but that's just awaiting and never enjoy the available technology till you get one. If you want to wait for the price drop of Sony and Pan players, you better off wait till the Oppo S83 which might be available first quarter of next year (hope so). Otherwise, go and buy the Sony S550 or the Pan BD-55 which has 7.1 analog outs (if your AV gears do not have HDMI input (like the Outlaw 990 which I have).
At present, I have Sony S550 at the basement theater and Sony S350 at the family room, the match with a 52 inches Mitsubisi LCD TV (1080p).
Both Sony bd players are great units, only the loading time is a bit slow. At this moment, I gave up the SACD and DVD-A listening for a while. I will buy the 3rd bd player.....The Oppo S83 which play BD disc, SACD and DVD-A discs.

Kwok